[Air-L] CfP: Comparing Digital Journalisms - Special issue in 'Digital Journalism' (Scopus Q1)

[Svetlana S. Bodrunova]

Dear AoIR community,

please see below a call for submissions that might be interesting for 
those of you who do research on digital media and journalism online.

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CALL FOR PAPERS

SPECIAL ISSUE - Comparing Digital Journalisms Across Nations and 
Cultures

Digital Journalism (Scopus Q1), abstracts due November 1, 2020


In 2004, the landmark study by Hallin and Mancini, ‘Comparing Media 
Systems’, has opened doors for hundreds of comparative studies in 
journalism, media, and communication that featured nearly every aspect 
of media life. However, an important mediated realm that has been 
under-studied comparatively is digital journalism – whether seen as a 
theoretical concept, a professional domain, or a creative industry.

Since 2004, media and communication world has changed beyond 
recognition. Digital journalism and social media are becoming the 
leading source of information for citizens all over the world, 
demanding more than a humble place within models of journalism of the 
previous era. Transborder mediated communication and proliferation of 
global audiences have put under question whether nation states need to 
remain major units of analysis for comparative media and journalism 
studies, and other analytical categories need to be developed.

On one hand, globalization of media brands and platforms, as well as 
formation of cross-regional agendas, especially in times of crises 
like the global recession or pandemic, evoke expectations that digital 
journalism practices may standardize across nations. On the other 
hand, there is growing evidence that local/regional social, political, 
and cultural factors critically affect how digital journalism is made 
and perceived. The challenges of populism and authoritarianism, 
audience segmentation, digital and social inequalities, blurring 
borders of media trust, and spread of misinformation create a need for 
new criteria in comparative journalism studies.

The special issue aims at bringing together comparative studies of 
digital journalism in various contexts and across them, elaborating 
comparative criteria, and discussing the methodological and 
institutional challenges in comparative digital journalism research in 
the globalized yet very diverse world. The issue seeks to examine 
whether digital journalism differs depending on social or cultural 
contexts, geographic proximity of countries, political or economic 
factors, accessibility of ICTs, and specifics of media landscapes, 
among other factors. We welcome comparative studies that involve at 
least two countries, as well as theoretical contributions.

In particular, we invite submissions that engage with (but are not 
limited to) one or more of the topics below:
•	Digital journalisms? Contextual dependence of the development 
trajectories of the digital journalism practices around the world
•	The place of digital journalism in the existing approaches to 
modeling media systems
•	Digital journalism compared cross-culturally and cross-regionally: 
variables and metrics
•	Comparing media policies in response to growth of digital journalism
•	Cross-country comparisons of the recent digitalization effects and 
digital practices of journalism
•	Democratic and wider societal roles of digital journalism in both 
democratic and non-democratic contexts
•	Digital and non-digital journalism: competition and strategies for 
claiming niches
•	Digital journalism and politics in comparative perspective
•	Technological and social challenges for digital journalism in 
various parts of the world
•	Digital divide and economic divide: implications for digital 
journalism

The special issue is open for regular submissions; decisions about 
inclusion will be quality-based, reliant on thorough peer-reviewing.

Information about submitting:

Abstract submissions (500-750 words excluding references, indicating 
central questions, theoretical framework, and methodology) are to be 
sent to guest editors: Svetlana Bodrunova s.bodrunova at spbu.ru and Anna 
Gladkova gladkova_a at list.ru. Full papers are expected to be between 
7,000 and 9,000 words long, including references, tables, figures, and 
supplementary materials. The queries about the special issue should 
also be addressed to the guest editors.

Timeline:
Abstract submission to emails of guest editors: November 1, 2020
Authors notified of the results of abstract selection: November 20, 
2020
Deadline for full paper submission to ScholarOne: March 20, 2021


--
Svetlana S. Bodrunova, Prof., D.Polit.Sci.
Head, Center for International Media Research
School of Journalism and Mass Communications,
St.Petersburg State University

+7 921 933 02 14
s.bodrunova at spbu.ru, spasibo-tebe at yandex.ru